[...]
The first aspect is stressed especially by Jackson J. Benson when he compares "My Old
Man" and Anderson's "I Want To Know Why" similar in view, subject, plot, tone, and
diction.
"Both stories are about boys in a race track setting. Both boys admire an older man, are
influenced by him, and then find their admiration betrayed. Both boys are left puzzled and
hurt by the experience. Each story is told in the first person by the boy who is characterized
by slightly broken grammar and the use of adolescent slang 'gee', 'gosh', and 'swell'."
(Benson, 273)
Christian Messinger argues that "Anderson sensed both the longing for success that
gripped track people and the disorder that accompanied overidentification with horses and
racing." (Christian K. Messinger, 278) The following, however, will leave aside a possible
influence by Anderson1 but rather concentrates on the employed narrating device of a
child's raconteur. Although it suggests itself to compare the two narration modes, I am
afraid I have to narrow my focus for the following examination. As Carl Ficken points out
"At the beginning of his writing career in the 1920's, Hemingway was working at (…) the
problem of point of view. In his first publication, Three Stories and Ten Poems, 1923, he
told two of the stories through an omniscient third-person narrator and the other in the first
person (…) "My Old Man" in fact, remains one of the classical examples of the unreliable
first person narrator." (Carl Ficken, 94) The following essay will thus discuss the second field of critical interest concerning "My
Old Man": the narrative revelation or more specific Hemingway's technique of establishing
a child's perspective. Based on Franz K. Stanzel’s three categories person, perspective and
modus I will outline the typical features of the autobiographical I-narrator as Stanzel states
them as relevant for interpretation. As I have pointed out the criteria that compose the I
narrating situation I will on these grounds discuss further how a child’s perspective as of
the I-narrator, Joe, is established in “My Old Man” and what function it serves in the story.
1 Hemingway vehemently denied the claimed influence of his elder patron that overshadowed his artist ego.
With the bitter satire Torrents of Spring (1927) he publicly recoiled from Anderson and broke with him as a
friend.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The I-narrator
2a. Modus
2b. Person
2c. Perspective
3. Child’s perspective
3a. speech pattern
3b. fallibility (Booth, implied author)
4. Portrait of the father
4a. The motive
4b. matured?
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines Hemingway's technique of establishing a child's perspective in his short story "My Old Man," utilizing Franz K. Stanzel’s narrative categories of person, perspective, and modus to analyze how the young narrator Joe Butler reveals his relationship with his father.
- Analysis of the autobiographical I-narrator device
- Investigation of childlike speech patterns and vocabulary
- Exploration of narrator fallibility and subjective limitations
- Examination of the shifting portrait of the father
- Discussion of the narrator's emotional development and maturation
Excerpt from the Book
3a. speech pattern
Joe tells his story in a conversational, colloquial tone as if he was talking directly to the reader. He not only addresses us as his audience (“Say, you ought to have seen wops look at us sometimes (…)”) but seems to be talking to us directly. Long sentences that sum up events and abruptly change in subject clearly show a talking rhythm.
“He’d have, maybe, taken a trial trip with one of Razzo’s skins early in the morning after just getting in from Torino at four o’clock in the morning and beating it out to the stables in a cab and then with the dew all over everything and the sun starting to get going, I’d help him pull off his boots and he’d get into a pair of sneakers and all these sweaters and we’d start out.” (Hemingway, 338)
To dramatize a scene he remembers taking place in front of him, Joe imitates sounds and cuts his sentences, as if talking faster when he gets exited:
“I’d come back and sit down beside him and he’d pull a rope out of his pocket and start skipping rope out in the sun with the sweat pouring of his face and him skipping rope out in the white dust with the rope going cloppetty, cloppetty, clop, clop, clop, and the sun hotter, and him working harder up and down a patch of the road.” (Hemingway, 338)
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the short story as a complex narrative centered on the father-son relationship and establishes the focus on Hemingway's narrative devices rather than external biographical influences.
2. The I-narrator: This section applies Stanzel’s narrative theory to define the role of the I-narrator, specifically examining how the narrator’s mediation shapes the reader's understanding of the story.
2a. Modus: This chapter analyzes the point of view distinction, characterizing Joe as a narrator who consciously tells his story to the reader while filtering it through his specific, often immature, judgment.
2b. Person: This section explores how the "I" character shares a realm of being with other figures in the story, emphasizing the physical presence of the narrator compared to omniscient narrative modes.
2c. Perspective: This chapter examines the inner versus outer perspective, focusing on how Joe’s limited horizon as a child shapes the narration of events.
3. Child’s perspective: This overarching chapter serves as the foundation for the subsequent analysis of Joe's specific narrative traits as a young observer.
3a. speech pattern: This chapter details how Joe’s conversational tone, slang usage, and sentence structure serve as indicators of his age and environment.
3b. fallibility (Booth, implied author): This section discusses the concept of fallibility, treating Joe as a narrator who provides a potentially distorted or limited account of events.
4. Portrait of the father: This chapter synthesizes the previous findings to analyze how the narrator constructs the image of his father for the reader.
4a. The motive: This section investigates Joe's underlying desire to justify his father’s actions and maintain an idealized image despite accumulating evidence of the father’s criminal involvement.
4b. matured?: This final chapter evaluates whether Joe undergoes a maturing process, concluding that his shifting narrative style reflects a transition toward disillusionment.
Keywords
Ernest Hemingway, My Old Man, I-narrator, Child’s perspective, Franz K. Stanzel, Narrative mediation, Narrator fallibility, Joe Butler, Point of view, Literary criticism, Horse racing, Narrative device, Adolescent slang, Characterization, Father-son relationship
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this academic paper?
The paper focuses on the narrative technique employed by Ernest Hemingway in the short story "My Old Man," specifically analyzing how the author establishes a child's perspective through an unreliable I-narrator.
What are the central thematic fields discussed?
Key themes include the relationship between a father and his son, the impact of the horse racing environment on the narrator, and the tension between a child's idealistic worldview and the reality of his father’s criminal activities.
What is the main research goal?
The goal is to demonstrate how Hemingway uses the specific narrating style of a child to create a complex, often conflicted, and fallible account of events, thereby challenging the reader’s perception of the characters.
Which scientific method is utilized in the study?
The study relies on Franz K. Stanzel’s narrative theory, specifically his triadic scheme of person, perspective, and modus, to interpret the "Oberflächenstruktur" (surface structure) of the text.
What is treated in the main body of the work?
The main body examines the narrator Joe's speech patterns, his fallibility, and his psychological motivation to portray his father in a sympathetic light, despite the father’s obvious professional and moral failures.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Essential keywords include I-narrator, child’s perspective, Stanzel, fallibility, Hemingway, narrative mediation, and narrator-father relationship.
How does the author analyze Joe’s "fallibility"?
The author defines fallibility as a narrative feature where the narrator contradicts himself, provides limited insights, or attempts to "lie" or distort facts due to his emotional attachment to his father.
Does the narrator undergo a maturing process?
The analysis suggests that while Joe remains emotionally attached to his father, his narrative style shifts from enthusiastic praise to a more earnest, disillusioned tone as his romanticized view of his father collapses.
- Quote paper
- Karin Ostertag (Author), 2000, Child's Perspective in Hemingway's My Old Man, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/11192
